[Race] The GROAT - Round 4 - 2012 Sepang vs 2005 Suzuka

[crmalcolm]

2012 Sepang
Forty minutes before the race the pitwall radar read that more than thirty minutes of steady 2-3 (0 = no rain and 4 = heavy shower) intensity rain was expected at 15:50 pm local time (ten mins before race start). All drivers except the two HRT's began the race on the green banded intermediate tyre. The HRT team opted for the blue banded full wet tyres. Grosjean starting from 7th, made a good start and was third into turn 1. Schumacher and Grosjean made contact at turn 4 and both spun, losing several positions in the process and Grosjean eventually retired on lap 4 after spinning into a gravel trap. On the first lap, turn 9 to 11 was almost completely dry but the rest of the track was very wet. Pérez stopped after the first lap to change to full wets in a move that would elevate him to an eventual podium scoring position. With almost all drivers having pitted onto full wets by laps 5, the pitwall radar was shown to read "the intensity will increase to 4 from time to time" meaning heavy rain was still to come.

The safety car was deployed on the 7th lap, purely because of the heavy rain, and the race was suspended on lap 9. This worked in favour of Jean-Éric Vergne, the only driver still running on intermediates, who was able to change to full wets (as required by race officials) without the necessity of a pit stop. The HRT of Karthikeyan benefited from starting the race on full wets, having not needed to pit stop and was in tenth when the race was suspended. Grosjean's car was rescued from the gravel and brought back in the pits during the suspension. The race suspension last around fifty minutes and in that time many drivers opted to leave their car and some (Rosberg) changed footwear. While the cars were suspended on the grid, many teams brought out gazebos to place over their cars to keep them and team equipment (i.e. laptops and tyre warmers) dry.

The race restarted under the safety car around local time 17:15. As the track steadily dried pit crew members attempted to dry the team pit box. After 4 laps behind the safety car, the majority of the drivers once again pitted to change to intermediate tyres, meanwhile Vettel lost his radio so he had to use the pit confirmation button on his steering wheel for most of the race. On lap 15, Jenson Button clumsily locked up the rear wheels and made contact with Karthikeyan, forcing him to pit again to change the front wing, ending his podium chances. Subsequently, he made up a few places but was unable to finish in the top 10. Alonso emerged from this as the new leader when he overtook Sergio Pérez on lap 16, a lead he only briefly relinquished with a lap 40 pit stop. Rosberg was in fourth on lap 23 but slowly slipped backwards when his tyres overheated and he consequently pitted early for more inters. As the track slowly dried further, the top five all had comfortable gaps between them. During this period Senna was posting quick lap times and moving up through the midfield.

By lap 31 heavier rain was again forecast but never eventuated. After being 7.795 seconds behind Alonso in 2nd, Pérez began to set consecutive fastest laps and was closing the gap to the leader. The forecast rain prevented most cars from changing to slicks when the track was dry. An image of Hamilton's front tyre revealed that drivers were essentially racing on slicks anyway as the intermediate tread had worn off. Daniel Ricciardo was the first to take the gamble and change to dry tyres on lap 37. The teams watched his lap times go purple (fastest for the day) for every sector on the timescreens. He set the fastest lap by some three seconds on Pérez and that initiated the change from wet to dry tyres for everyone else. By lap 39, Pérez had excellent pace and cut the gap to Alonso back down to 1.339 seconds. Between laps 39 and 42 there was yet another round of pit stops, this time onto slick tyres. Alonso pitted on lap 40 while Pérez waited until the next lap. In that time Pérez, who prior to the pitstop had been within two seconds, now dropped to 7.180 seconds off Alonso. After the change to slicks, Pérez on the prime tyre, again consistently cut down on Alonso's (medium tyre) lead to within half a second. Controversially on lap 50, Pérez was told on the radio "be careful, we need this position" referring to the 18 points on offer for 2nd place. On the same lap Pérez took too much curb on turn 14 and had a slight off. This cost him at least five seconds and ensured he remain in 2nd position. Commentators questioned whether Sauber - whose engine is supplied by Ferrari - gave a coded message to Pérez asking him to allow the engine supplier to take victory. Sauber denied this emphatically after the race. Late in the race, Vettel received a puncture against the front wing of Narain Karthikeyan, and he pitted from 4th place, finishing 11th; Karthikeyan was given a 20-second post-race penalty for his part in the collision. Pastor Maldonado, who was running 10th, was forced to retire on the penultimate lap when his engine gave way, allowing Michael Schumacher his first points of the season.

Vettel and Red Bull boss Christian Horner criticised Karthikeyan's driving, with Vettel calling Karthikeyan an "idiot". Karthikeyan hit back at Vettel, calling him a "cry-baby". Later, Karthikeyan decided to call a truce with Vettel, stating his respect for Vettel's abilities and saying "I think we have to deal with it in a mature way and forget about it."


2005 Suzuka
The start of the race saw Ralf Schumacher sprint into an early lead, leaving Button to try and fend off a fast starting Fisichella. Behind, Sato's hopes were ended when he clashed with Rubens Barrichello, leaving both with damage, while Räikkönen, Alonso and Montoya made early progress, streaking up the order.

However, Montoya's race would ultimately prove to be a short one, with the #10 McLaren-Mercedes crashing out at the end of lap one after being forced off track by Jacques Villeneuve. That resulted in an appearance for the Safety Car as Montoya escaped unharmed, while Villeneuve was slapped with a time penalty.

The restart saw Ralf Schumacher again make a strong getaway, with Fisichella also opening out a gap over Button. Behind, Alonso had to twice hand back a position to Klien after accidentally passing the Austrian racer by cutting the chicane, allowing Räikkönen to close right onto his tail.

Once clear of Klien both Alonso and Räikkönen would charge onto the back of Michael Schumacher, just as the first pitstops were beginning. Ralf Schumacher was the first of the leaders to stop, handing a comfortable lead to Fisichella, while Alonso lined-up a stunning move on the #1 Ferrari.

Running lighter than both Michael Schumacher and Räikkönen, Alonso would throw everything he had at the #1 Ferrari, opening an opportunity at 130R. The Spanish ace duly danced his Renault right around the outside of Schumacher's car on lap 20, a move that would be fondly remembered as the greatest in the Japanese Grand Prix's history.

A lap later and Alonso made his first stop, followed a couple of laps later by first Schumacher and then Räikkönen. They duly rejoined ahead of Alonso, who had got caught behind David Coulthard, with Räikkönen immediately attacking and passing Schumacher to move into fourth.

Räikkönen spent the rest of the second stint hunting down Button and Mark Webber, in second and third, catching them just as they ventured into the pits. Fisichella also stopped to leave Räikkönen in the lead, with the Finn duly delivering a bunch of fastest laps in clear air before making his stop.

That push meant that the Finn emerged from the pits just five seconds behind Fisichella, although with time running out. Behind, Alonso was able to battle past Coulthard, Schumacher and Button to challenge Webber, while Button slipped back towards Schumacher and Coulthard.

With three laps to go Fisichella began to defend, and hence allowed Räikkönen to twice draft alongside him into the first corner only to fend off the Finn's lunge. However, at the start of the final lap Räikkönen was able to sell the Italian racer a dummy, sweeping around the outside of the Renault through turn one to claim the lead.

That proved to be the decisive move, with Räikkönen sprinting away to secure victory ahead of the Italian. Behind, Alonso managed to elbow his way past Webber to complete the podium, and ensure that Renault moved back ahead of McLaren-Mercedes in the Constructors Championship ahead of the season finale in China. The rest of the points would go to Webber, Button, Coulthard, Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher.

[chillibowl]

2005 Japan for me. Love this race!